2015 EURO TOUR, May 5 - 19, Holland, Germany & Belgium U15/17

Submitted by Editor on Wed, 06/17/2015 - 08:32

The European Football School has just completed its 19th playing tour to Europe since its inception in the year 2000. Our young women's team made up of 18 players aged 15 to 17 years old, returned to Canada at the end of May from a 14 day playing tour of Holland, Germany and Belgium.
Saibo was extremely pleased with the way in which our girls performed and in the result of each game with the exception of the first 15 minutes of the 1st match in Den Bosch, Holland and the last 10 minutes of our 5th match in Brachatt, Belgium. It should be noted that due to difficulties finding women's teams at this time of year that are still playing league play, our contacts in Europe on three occasions were only able to find competition in women's teams rather than U17 - U19 age players. Despite this difference in player’s age, we were never outmatched physically and consistently played alongside these teams with competitive results.
The team played 6 games altogether, winning two and losing 4. Here are the match results:
1st game in Den Bosch vs FC Haarsteeg (U17) - 0 -5 (0-3 1st half)
Haarsteeg was a very skilled team with two players who play at the national level in Holland, one of whom was their striker, the other, their central defender. They have played on the same level as Bayern Munich and Manchester United. The team has very quick attackers and a tall, strong, defensive line. This Haarsteeg team also plays in the strongest youth league in Holland. Their roster includes two players who are 19 yrs old.
2nd game in Den Bosch vs. FC GRC14 (U14) - 8 - 0 (8-0 1st half)
This team is from a recently amalgamated club, Giessen Rijswijk 14. The team was a combination of 2 of their young girls teams aged 14 to 17 years old. EFS was able to put two quick goals in by Aimee Laventure followed by another 3 from Kyra Teetzen and one final goal from Sarah Cortese before the half was over and other goalscorers were Isabelle Call and Georgia Brydon rounded out the scoring with the final result 8-0
3rd game in Monchengladbach vs. Borussia Monchengladbach (U17) - 0 - 2 (0-1 1st half)
This U17 plays in the Bundesliga League which plays throughout Germany on Saturdays and Sundays. Our opponent had 2 National Players and an excellent defender. This was the best overall performance by the girls in tour and against one of the best U17 teams in Germany.

4th game in Dusseldorf vs. DCFr Links 1919 (U21)- 0 - 2 (0-0 1st half)
Our 4th match was against DCfR Links 1919 on Tuesday night. The team was a mix of ages between 17 and 25 years old who had been playing together in the 3rd division for a number of years. They had very good passing and skills but we felt we were a good match for them.
5th game in Brachatt vs K-Maria-Ter-Heide - 1 - 5 (1-2 1st half)
We played our 5th game against Maria Ter Heide in Braschatt, a suburb of Antwerp. They were a very good team who had won the 4th division last year and was accordingly moved up to 3rd division for this year. We played an excellent first half scoring a goal (Aimee) to make it 1-1 but ended the half down 1-2.

6th game in Gravenwezel vs. KSK S. Gravenwezel (Women) - 1 - 0 (0-0 1st half)
We played our last game against KSK S. Gravenwezel in Gravenwezel. If it wasn’t for their goalkeeper, the score would have been much higher. Their goalkeeper made some outstanding saves and was by far the best goalkeeper that the team had faced in the tour.
The European Football School would like to acknowledge and thank the following people for their assistance in coordinating the matches in Europe: Our thanks to Boban Palvov for organizing our matches in Holland, to Sabrina Schutte for organizing our games in Germany, and to Alan Grozdanic for arranging our matches in Belgium.
Head Coach, Saibo Talic, the EFS players and the EFS parents extend a very big thank you to the parents who helped prepare for the tour (Brenda Mann (accommodations), Paula Freeman (flights and insurance), and Margaret Christensen (uniforms) and to all the parents who chaperoned and helped with the day-to-day duties while in Europe, Brenda Mann (Team Medical), Margaret Christensen (Team Manager), Wanda Teetzen (Gift T-shirts), Paula Freeman (food and logistics) and Gilbert Schotel (keeper Trainer, and photographer). You were all extremely valuable and I know the girls appreciated your ongoing assistance and support for the full two weeks. EFS certainly did.

Testimonials

When our daughters joined EFS at ages 12 and 14 with the intention of improving their soccer skills , they unknowingly became part of a family that would help them become not only better players, but better people. Saibo Talic and his team taught them the value of hard work, respect, loyalty, and a love for the game. Now at 19 and 16, Saibo remains Robin and Nicola's most influential mentor outside their immediate family.
—Dr. John and Claudia Mawson, parents